


Instructions Not Included

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Domestic, Family, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Multi, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, all characters are in their 20s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:46:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7910539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The best laid plans are the easiest to mess up. Pidge had to learn that lesson the hard way. After finding out that she is now housing a nutrient stealing gremlin, she must learn that life doesn't follow our plans. She also must learn to lean on her friends and realize they're there for a reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. F*ck Being Positive

**Author's Note:**

> Everybody in this fiction is in college or grad school. They are all in their 20s. Please give feedback in the comments. I hope you enjoy.

This could not be happening. None of this had ever been in her plan. How could she have been so irresponsible? This unexpected hiccup in the road was going to mess with the plan she had for her life. She was only a junior in college, which meant she was barely holding on to her sanity. Now this was going to cause her to finally go insane. 

She looked at three pregnancy tests that were sitting on her bathroom sink. The glaringly red plus sign mocked her. Grabbing her cell phone, she called the only person she felt could handle the situation at hand. 

Leaning against the wall, she listened as the phone rang and slightly gasped when someone actually picked up. 

“Hello?” the warm voice on the other end of the phone answered. 

“I'm in big trouble and I need help.” She answered in a cracked tone. She could a lump starting to form in her throat and she felt a burning behind her eyes. It was finally catching up to her. She was pregnant. 

“I'll be right over.” The person on the phone said before hanging up. 

This was not how things were supposed to be. She was supposed to get her undergraduate degree then go to graduate school and get masters and possibly shot for her doctorate. But with the current situation she wasn't sure if her carefully laid plans would stay intact. 

Katie “Pidge” Holt was pregnant and she was starting to panic. This might as well have been the end of the world for her. Pidge remained shut up in her bathroom until she heard someone banging on her door. 

Reluctantly, Pidge walked out of the bathroom and trudged to the front door of her apartment. Before opening the door she took a deep breath. The moment she opened the door, a blur burst in and looked around frantically. 

“Pidge are you okay? Where are you?” they exclaimed breathlessly. Pidge rolled her eyes before shutting the door.

“I'm right here, Hunk.” Turning around quickly Hunk looked at his friend in distress. He put his hands on Pidge’s shoulders and looked her over. 

“Are you okay? Your phone call scared me. I think I broke like ten traffic laws trying to get here.” Pidge's eyes widened. Hunk the safest driver Pidge had ever met and she knew that he was seriously worried if he broke traffic laws in order to get to her. “So what's the problem?” He asked.

Pidge dreaded this moment. She started to form the words but decided against it. Instead, she grabbed Hunk by the hand and led him into her bathroom. Pointing to the pregnancy tests, Pidge turned away and faced the wall. She waited with bated breath as Hunk pieced everything together.

When Hunk didn't say anything after five minutes, Pidge turned to him and saw him staring at the tests in disbelief.

“What you have gotten yourself into?” Hunk whispered. He turned his body to face Pidge, who was standing still with silent tears streaming down her face. Without saying a word Hunk wrapped his best friend into a much-needed hug. “It's gonna be okay.” He repeated over and over as Pidge tried to gain control over her emotions.

“What if everything isn't okay?” Pidge asked. Hunk sighed deeply.

“That's why you have us.” Hunk answered as he pulled Pidge away from his body. “You have me, Keith, Lance, Shiro, Allura, and your family.” Hunk listed off as horror started to seep into Pidge's bones.

“Oh dear God. I have to tell my family. They're going to be so pissed. How do I tell my family of two doctors and one in training that I'm pregnant at twenty years old? I can't face them. I can't deal with their disappointment.” Pidge rattled off as it became hard to breathe.

Hunk led his friend over to the edge of her tub and sat her down.

“Pidge you need to calm down. Take a deep breath,” Hunk instructed. Pidge did as she was told and took a couple deep breaths until her heart rate returned to normal. “Now that you're calm, I think you should take a nap and then schedule an appointment with a doctor. Okay?” Pidge nodded her head before standing up on shaky legs and walking to her bedroom with the help of Hunk. Once she was in her bed, Hunk tucked her in and turned the lights off.

Pidge turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Maybe sleep would clear her mind and help her come to terms with the situation at hand.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Hunk sent an SOS message to their friends and urged them to head to Pidge's apartment. He was going to make sure that she knew she wasn't alone and that she had options.

****

Voices coming from her living room is what dragged Pidge out of her sleep. Throwing the covers off of her body, Pidge walked out of her room quietly and in case she was being robbed. 

As Pidge got closer to her living room she could make out Hunk’s voice. She tried also recognized the other voices. With a roll of her eyes, Pidge walked into her living room.

“Why are you guys here?” she asked her four uninvited guests. They all whipped their heads around at the sound of her voice.

“Um...I called them here.” Hunk answered while rubbing the back of his neck. “I thought you could use extra moral support.” 

“Did you tell them what happened?” Pidge asked Hunk. Hunk shook his head no. Pidge was thankful for that. She wasn't ready to deal with the fallout over her confession. Pidge could feel her friends looking at her suspiciously. They knew something big was amidst or Hunk wouldn’t have called them all over to Pidge’s apartment. 

Lance was the first person to speak up. 

“Why are you so relieved that Hunk didn’t tell us why he called us here?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow. 

“Because it is a personal issue that I have to work through myself.” Pidge snapped. She didn’t want her friends to know about her pregnancy. This was her problem, not theirs. “It’s nothing you guys have to concern yourselves with. Sorry, you all rushed over here.” Pidge said as she walked to her front door and held it open. 

Pidge stood and the door and tapped her foot, waiting for her friends to walk out the door. Lance was the first person out the door, but the slamming of a door from inside the apartment caused everyone to jump and turn in the direction of the sound. 

Keith walked out of Pidge’s bathroom holding one of her pregnancy tests. Pidge closed her eyes tightly and willed the tears to stay back. 

“Why did you have three of these sitting on your sink?” he asked while pointing to the test. Allura was the person who grabbed it from Keith. She looked at the test before sighing deeply and turning to Pidge.

“Can you explain this?” she asked in her lilting accent. Pidge looked down at the floor afraid to meet the inquiring eyes of her friends. 

“Would you believe me if I said they weren’t mine?” Pidge laughed nervously as she slowly looked up at her friends. 

“No, we wouldn’t,” Shiro answered in a tone similar to her father’s when she tried to joke her way out getting in trouble. 

“Well surprise there’s a nutrient stealing gremlin growing in me.” Pidge joked before she covered her eyes with her hands and walked to her room. Once in her room, Pidge closed the door and collapsed onto her bed. She shoved her face into a pillow and screamed before those screams turned into cries. 

  
  



	2. With Friend Like These

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang assembles to help out their friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope whoever is reading this is enjoying it. Please leave comments down below to tell me what I'm doing right and please leave me some respectful constructive criticism.

In the living room, Hunk, Allura, Shiro, Lance, and Keith were trying to decide how they left about what they’d just heard. 

“How did this happen?” Keith asked from his spot on one of the couches. 

“If you don’t know how pregnancy happens, then you’re denser than we thought.” Lance joked, which earned him a pillow to the face from Keith. 

“Can you please take this situation seriously?” Keith snapped at Lance.

“Who said I wasn’t taking this seriously? Just because I’m not wallowing like the rest of you doesn’t mean I’m not taking the situation seriously,” Lance answered back as he looked around at his friends that wore expressions that ranged from distraught (Allura) to disbelief (Shiro). “The only thing we can do right now is be there for Pidge. We have no major say in what she does about this. So all we can do is be there every step of the way. And we have to support whatever decision she makes.” 

“Wow Lance that’s a really mature take on this situation,” Shiro said as he patted Lance on the shoulder. 

“Well I do have two older sisters and both of them have kids. I’ve learned that no one has a say over a woman’s body except for that woman.” 

In her room, Pidge listened as her friends devised their course of action. She hated the fact that she was being such a burden to her friends. She kept running to her room in tears like some heartbroken Disney princess. This was not the way she usually handled stressful situations. 

As Pidge was calming herself down, someone knocked at her door. 

“Come in,” Pidge answered. The door opened to reveal Lance. Pidge exhaled in relief. “Thank goodness it’s you. I couldn’t have dealt with taking to Shiro or Allura.” Pidge said as Lance took a seat on her bed. 

“Well Allura’s still in a state of shock and I think Shiro’s still trying to process what’s going on. So they decided I should come in here because I’m obviously the best choice. I mean could you imagine Keith coming in here and trying to comfort you.” Lance said with a laugh. 

Pidge laughed along with him as she pictured Keith trying to comfort her. It probably would have included some awkward words of encouragement and a weird side hug. 

“I mean I love Keith, but he’s not the best in overly emotional situations and neither am I,” Pidge said with a weak laugh. She and Lance fell into a comfortable silence. “I think I’ve cried more in the last four hours than I have in the last five years.” Her comment broke the silence in the room and caused Lance to turn to her.

“Well, you can just blame it all on pregnancy hormones.” Lance joked as he bumped Pidge’s shoulder with his. “What made you believe you were pregnant?” 

Lance knew how to breach subjects with the subtly of a bull in a china shop. Pidge really didn’t want to think about the how, when, where, who, or why of her pregnancy. Pidge pressed the pillow in her lap against her face and tried to avoid Lance’s question. 

“You can’t run away from this. So answer me.” Lance said as he yanked the pillow away from Pidge’s face. “C’mon Pidge you’re going to have to tell us what happened eventually. Why not start with me?” 

Pidge sat up and sighed. 

“You know how I was kind of sick last week?” Pidge asked. Lance nodded his head. The week before had been nauseous and just thought she had the flu or something. “Well I thought it would go away and it didn’t, so I called my mom and she joked that I was probably pregnant. I didn’t think that was a possibility until I remembered I hadn’t had my period.” Pidge took a breath and was surprised Lance didn’t cringe when she mentioned menstruation. 

“How could you forget about your period?” Lance asked with a tilt of his head. 

“I’d been really busy with projects for my classes and I’ve always had an irregular period. So I just pushed it to the back of my brain.” Pidge explained. As she explained, Pidge felt so stupid. How could she not notice these things earlier? 

“Okay not that that’s out of the way. I need to know how did this happen.” Someone said from the door. Both Pidge and Lance’s heads turned towards the door. Keith was leaning in the door with the rest of their friends behind them. 

Pidge groaned as everyone spilled into her room. At least she wouldn’t have to retell the story multiple times. 

“It happened when Allura and Shay planned a Girls’ Night Out. We went to some bar or something and I had more drinks than I should have. I saw a guy from one of my classes and we started talking. And I guess you guys can piece two and two together.” Pidge groaned. She was not one to ever have a one night stand. She’d only dated one guy in her life. And now she was pregnant for a stranger. 

Everyone turned to look at Allura. They wondering how she didn’t keep her eye on Pidge. 

“I didn’t know that she was drunk. She came up to me and said she couldn’t take the bar anymore, so she was getting a cab home. I didn’t know she meant someone else’s home.” Allura said defensively. 

“So how long ago was that?” Hunk asked. 

“That was in August.” Allura answered. 

“It’s October now. So Pidge is a little over a month into this pregnancy.” Lance answered as he started to pace the bedroom. “The first thing you need to do is decide what you’re going to do with this baby. If you decide to continue with the pregnancy you’ll need to make an appointment with an obstetrician. And we’ll go from there.” 

Everyone in the room was shocked at how mature and level headed Lance sounded. They knew their friend could be serious, they just weren’t used to it. 

“Let’s start with step one. What are you going to do about this baby?” Hunk asked from his spot on Pidge’s bedroom floor. What was her course of action? Should she keep the baby? Should she give it up for adoption? Or should she get an abortion? Those were her options.

“We’ll support you no matter what decision you make.” Allura said from the spinning chair at Pidge’s desk. Pidge looked around at all of her friends and saw their encouraging looks and nods. She knew they would support her no matter what she chose. 

“Let’s list out the pros and cons of each choice,” Shiro proposed. Everyone agreed with his idea. “Okay, Choice number 1 is abortion. Give me the pros.” Shiro said.

“You won’t have to worry about your future plans.” Keith said. 

“There would be no baby.” Hunk said. “You could go back to normal and your family wouldn’t have to know the baby ever existed.” 

Pidge looked at Allura and Lance who hadn’t given an answer. She knew Allura would have supported her decision to get an abortion, but she wasn’t so sure about Lance. His Catholic upbringing probably was playing into why he wasn’t answering. 

“What do you think Lance?” Pidge asked. She saw her friend look at the floor. He just shrugged his shoulders. That wasn’t much of an answer. “Would you support me if I got an abortion?” 

“I don’t have a say over what you do with your body or the baby. I said I would support you no matter what. My views or feelings about it don't matter. Make the best choice for you.” Lance answered diplomatically. 

Shiro could tell that was all Lance would say about the topic, so he moved the discussion along.

“Cons of abortion?” Shiro asked. 

“The guilt of not telling your parents you were pregnant.” Hunk answered. 

“Thanks for reminding me that I haven’t told my family yet.” Pidge snarked. Hunk just rolled his eyes at Pidge. 

“There wouldn’t be a baby.” Keith said. 

“Okay so pros of giving the baby up for adoption.” 

“The baby would get a loving home.” Allura said. 

“You wouldn’t have to raise a child.” Lance offered. 

“A family would be given the chance to raise a child,” Pidge answered. “Let’s move on to the cons.” 

“You would have to carry a child for nine months only to give it up to strangers.” Keith stated. Pidge didn’t think she would be able to do that even if she had the greater good in mind. 

“So I’ve decided to eliminate adoption. I don’t think I could carry this kid for nine months and then just give it away and act like nothing happened. I would live with the fact that this human I produced doesn’t know that I exist.” Pidge said. 

“Okay so pros of keeping the baby.” Lance could tell the thought of giving the baby up, upset her so he moved the conversation along. 

“You’d be able to raise a human being.” Shiro said encouragingly. 

“But that’s a lot of work.” Keith said. 

“We aren’t on the cons yet, Keith. So keep your negative comment to yourself until we get there.” Lance said. Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s outburst and ignored him.

“I don’t think this is helping anything. We can’t expect Pidge to make a life-changing decision so soon. She still is probably trying to process what’s going on. I think we should give Pidge time to think about what’s going on before we force her to make a decision.” Keith said. 

Pidge was grateful that Keith could understand her predicament. A couple of hours was not enough time for her to come to terms with being pregnant. She needed a couple of days to think about what was best for her. 

This was something none of them understood how to handle. Pidge was thankful that they were trying to help, but as they said the road to hell was paved with good intentions. She didn’t want to make a snap decision and then end up regretting it for the rest of her life. 

“Keith is right. I just need to let everything set in before I go making such a huge decision,” Pidge said as she stood up from her bed and smiled feebly at her friends. “I’m glad I have such great friends. I’ll call you guys once I’ve decided what I’m going to do. In the meantime, I need to tell Matt and my parents.” 

Pidge knew it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. She was still trying to decide how she was going to break the news to them. The stress of the day was starting to get to her. She just needed some time alone.

“Thanks for coming by you guys. It means a lot.” Pidge said as she herded her friends through the door.

“Make sure you eat something,” Hunk said before he walked out the door.

“Oh and don’t forget to rest.” said Lance before Keith pulled him out of the apartment. Pidge just nodded at their advice and watched as all five of them walked away from her apartment. With a loud sigh, she closed the door and locked it. 

Time would make everything clearer and maybe a bit easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, we get to meet the rest of the Holt clan and decisions may be made. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	3. The Start of Family Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge freaks out. Shiro is the voice of reason. And grandparents show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone that has read this story and commented, bookmarked it, and gave it a kudos. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story. And I promise I won't make Pidge suffer too much. Also in the comments please tell me what I'm doing right and what I need to work on. I am happy to receive respectful constructive criticisms. 
> 
> So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

It had been an hour since everyone left her apartment. They tried to stay longer, but Pidge insisted they left. She needed time to herself and she still had to finish an essay for her history class.

Pidge was sitting on her couch with her laptop in her lap when her cell phone began to ring. Groaning, she reached over and grabbed the ringing device. When Pidge looked down at her phone, she tensed up and gulped. Her mother was calling.

She must have sensed something was wrong with her daughter. Since it was four in the afternoon on a Saturday, Pidge knew her mom usually went to her book club. Why was she calling Pidge during book club time? Did her mother have some weird power to sense disturbances in the force?

While Pidge was freaking out, her phone continued to ring. Sucking it up, Pidge pressed the green accept button and brought her phone to her ear.

“Hey mom,” Pidge tried to make sure her voice didn’t give anything away. “I thought you usually had book club at this time.”

“It was canceled. Ms. Pendergrass’s daughter was having her baby. I did tell you that Nia Pendergrass was having a baby, didn’t I?” Oh dear god, the universe was working against her. Maybe her mother already knew that her daughter was pregnant. She was just waiting for Pidge to crack until she told her the truth. Pidge wasn’t going to let her mother win this psychology battle.

“I vaguely remember hearing about that.” Pidge answered her mother.

She remembered who Nia Pendergrass was. Nia pretended to be friends with Pidge just to get closer to Lance during their freshmen year of high school. But Nia stopped hanging around when she found out Lance was pansexual. Pidge never spoke to her after that.

“I was just calling to remind you about Matt’s birthday dinner next weekend. And just because we’re hosting it at the house doesn’t mean you don’t have to dress up. So please make sure you look like a grown up just for that night. Okay?” Pidge’s mother didn’t  have a problem with her daughter’s less feminine way of dressing. But when Anne-Marie Holt wanted her children to look nice, she made sure they looked nice.

“Yes, mom. I will dress up for Matt. Is it just family or are some other people invited?”

“It’s just going to be the four of us.” Ms. Holt  answered. Pidge didn’t really believe her mother.

“Are you sure?” Pidge pressed.

“Oh, Takashi is coming. How could I forget about him?” Since Shiro was one of Matt's oldest friends he usually attended Matt’s birthday dinners. Pidge listened as her mother rambled on about how work at her clinic was going. Her mother was a pediatrician and ran a small clinic close to their house. “So how are things with you, Katie?” she asked after she finished telling a story about a little boy who’d kicked one of her nurses in the face.

“Everything is going fine.” Pidge lied. Everything was not going fine. She could feel her life imploding. Things had never been less fine than they were at that moment. “When you called I was working on an essay for my History class. I hung out with my friends earlier today.” More like they came over and she dropped a giant bomb on them.

“How are your friends doing? I feel like I haven’t seen some of them in ages.” gushed Mrs. Holt.

“Everyone is doing fine. Hunk's advisor is one of the most promising students in the engineering department. Lance is just Lance. Keith had an article published in the school paper. And Allura is almost finished grad school.” Pidge answered. She wasn’t in the mood to make small talk with her mother. “Mom I'll talk to you later. This paper isn't going to write itself.”

“Of course sweetie. I love you.”

“Love you too.” Pidge answered before her mother hung up. Pidge tossed her phone to the other side of the couch. She looked at her laptop and attempted to finish her essay when her stomach started to growl.

“What do you want?” Pidge asked her stomach as she walked into her kitchen. She opened her refrigerator and looked at the almost nonexistent contents. “I guess we're going out.”

Sighing, Pidge walked to her room and changed into a pair of jeans and her Voltron University sweatshirt. Shen then slid her feet into a pair tennis shoes. On her way out, she grabbed her wallet, cellphone, and car keys.

Once in her car Pidge was still trying to figure out what she wanted to eat. So she just decided to drive around until she figured something out. The quest to find food gave Pidge enough time to think about her current situation.

She was pregnant with some stranger’s baby after a temporary lapse in judgment. Having a baby wasn't like having a pet. She would have to take care of the child for 18 years. How was she supposed to look after helpless human being when she still had her mother schedule her doctor appointments?

Did that mean abortion was her best bet? But could she go through with it? But, did she want to birth a child didn't fully want? As she was mentally fighting herself, Pidge pulled up to a  burger restaurant.

Pidge pulled through the drive-thru and placed her order.

“Can I have a bacon cheeseburger meal, with just cheese and meat. Can you make the fry a large? And instead of a drink can I get a chocolate milkshake?” she ordered. “That'll be all.”

“Your total is $9.67.” the worker said.  “Please pull up to the window.” Pidge pulled her car forward and got her food. At the smell of the food, Pidge's stomach started to growl.

“I hear you.” Pidge said as she drove back to her apartment.

Once she was back her apartment, Pidge rushed out of her car with her food and walked to her apartment.

In her apartment, she sat down on her couch and prepared to devour her meal. She turned on her TV as she pulled out her burger and fries.

“Time to eat?” Pidge said as she bit into her burger.

****

The rest of the week leading up to Matt’s birthday dinner included Pidge throwing up several times a day. Her friends avoided the topic of the baby. And she was stuck doing school work.

By the time Saturday rolled around, Pidge just wanted to collapse in her bed and shut out the rest of the world. But she couldn’t because she had to go to her brother’s birthday dinner. Pidge would just have to stick it out and get through the dinner.

Earlier in the week, she got the chance to talk to Shiro briefly. He proposed they carpool to her parents’ house . Pidge agreed, but now she was regretting that decision.

She had only thirty minutes until Shiro picked her up for Matt’s birthday dinner. She still wasn’t remotely ready. She was standing in front of her closet trying to figure out what to wear, while wrapped in a towel from her shower.

Her mother said she should dress up, so her easiest bet would be to find a dress, but Pidge couldn’t decide which dress to wear. Both dresses had wrinkles in them because they'd been squashed at the bottom of a hamper filled with clean clothes. Giving up Pidge grabbed the dress that was closest to her and went to throw it into her dryer.

As she was walking to her room, someone knocked on her front door. Halting abruptly, Pidge turned towards her door.

“Who is it?” she shouted from her spot in the middle of her living room.

“It’s Shiro.” Shit. Why was he here so early? She had at least twenty minutes left. Pidge looked at the clock near her TV and started to panic. She had wasted twenty minutes figuring out what to wear. Now she only had ten minutes to get dressed, do something with her hair, and wrap her present to Matt. Curse her poor time management skills.

“Just a second.” Pidge said as she rushed over to her dryer and pulled her still slightly wrinkled dress on. She picked up her discard bath towel and threw into the hamper next to the washing machine. After that, she walked to her front door and let Shiro in.

Shiro looked Pidge up and down before raising an eyebrow.

“Did you leave your clean clothes in a hamper after you washed them, again?” Shiro asked.

“What? No. What gave you that idea?” Pidge asked as she tried to smooth out her dress.

“Because your dress has more wrinkles than Lance’s great grandmother.” Shiro joked. Not everyone could wear perfectly pressed shirts and pants and ties.

“Is you tie ironed?” Pidge asked. Shiro looked down at his tie and laughed nervously.

“What? Who would do that? Definitely not this guy.” Shiro said as he pointed at himself.

“You are a giant nerd. You probably also ironed your socks.” Pidge said as she walked to her room. Shiro followed her and immediately found her clean clothes hamper. Pidge could feel Shiro judging her. “Someone who irons his tie and socks doesn’t have room to where I put my clean clothes.”

Shiro just rolled his eyes and looked at his watch.

“Just finish getting ready. We’re gonna be late getting to your parents’ house.” Shiro said as he walked out of Pidge’s bedroom. She walked over to her shoe rack and grabbed a pair of black velvet flats. She ran a brush through her thick sandy brown hair and put on a headband.

“This is as good as it’s going to get,” Pidge sighed before grabbing her phone and house keys. “I’m ready.” She said to Shiro, who was sitting on her couch scrolling through his phone.

“Alright let’s go,” Shiro and Pidge walked to his car in comfortable silence. Once they were in Shiro’s car, Pidge started to mess with his radio. Shiro slapped her hand away from the dials and turned the radio off. “The driver controls the radio. I also need to talk to you.”

Great. There was only one thing Shiro would want to talk to her about on the drive to her parents’ house.

“If you’re going to ask me about the baby, I will jump out of this car.” Pidge threatened.

“You’re going to have to talk about it at some point. This isn’t something you can just avoid. How long are you planning on ignoring this?” Shiro said. And there went her good mood.

“You don’t think I know I can’t ignore this! That’s pretty much all I have thought about for the last week. You’re not pointing out anything that I don’t know.” Pidge snapped at him. She sat back in her seat and folded her hands over her chest. She wished Shiro would just avoid the topic like everybody else. But, Shiro didn’t know how to drop topics that dealt with someone’s well-being or health.

“I’m just worried about you. When are you going to tell your parents about this?” Shiro asked.

“I don’t know. I can’t bring it up today because it’s Matt’s birthday. I’ll tell them...eventually.” Pidge said dismissively.

“At the rate, you’re going, eventually seems like it means when you are in the hospital giving birth.” Shiro said in a joking tone. But Pidge knew it held a bit of truth.

“I’d have to tell them before then. I’ll start showing in a few weeks, so I need to decide what I’m going to do with this kid,” Pidge mumbled as she picked at the peeling nail polish on her fingers. Pidge turned to Shiro, who was looking at the road. “This is a huge life change and I’m slightly terrified.”

“Slightly terrified?” Shiro said without looking away from the road.

“Alright fine. I’m petrified. I’m not even a full adult. My parents pay my bills. I don’t even do a good job of taking care of myself. How am I supposed to raise another human being?” Pidge rambled. “I keep thinking that abortion is a good option, but then I remember that my parents would be a bit disappointed that I just got rid of the kid without them knowing.”

Shiro stared at Pidge as she rambled off whatever was running through her mind. She was so caught up in venting that she didn’t notice they were sitting in her parents’ driveway.

“Then I think I’ll keep the kid, but then I think about how expensive that would be. That leads to me thinking about how difficult and scary that is. Then I think about the fact that there’s some guy from one of my classes that has no idea that he got some girl pregnant.” Pidge let all her thoughts from the past week consume her as she sat in Shiro’s car. “My life is like a bad Lifetime movie.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a bad Lifetime movie. It’s more of a CW dramedy. So it’s not that bad.” Shiro said in an odd attempt to cheer Pidge up. Pidge just rolled her eyes and stared out of the window. It was the first time she noticed that they were sitting in her parents’ driveway.

“How long have we be sitting here?” she asked Shiro.

“About fifteen minutes. I thought you could use a moment to vent before you went and faced your family.” Shiro said as he started to get out of the car. Pidge followed his lead and got out of Shiro’s Ford Explorer. They walked to the front door and Pidge rang the doorbell, having forgotten her key to the house at her apartment.

She stood next to Shiro and nervously fiddled with her hands. The door to the house swung open and revealed a petite woman with short sandy brown hair. She turned to Pidge and brought her in for a tight hug.

“You guys are finally here.” Mrs. Holt said as she ushered Shiro and Pidge into the house. “How are classes going?” she asked as she led them to the formal dining room. They only used that dining room for holidays and special occasions, so most of the year it sat unused and accumulated a lot of junk.

“Law school is going pretty well. I’m trying to figure out if I want to go into a certain area of law or if I want to practice all types of law.” Shiro said to Mrs. Holt.

“So how are things with you, Katie?” she asked her daughter as they took their seats at the table.

“Things are going okay. I have a few tests coming up and a project for my graphic design class,” Pidge answered as she looked around the table. “Where are dad and Matt?” she asked.

“Well your father went pick up his parents and Matt is upstairs getting ready. I swear you two do not understand how time management works. You get that from your father’s side of the family.”

Pidge couldn't believe that her grandparents were coming. Why didn’t her mother tell her this before hand? She would have ironed her dress and actually tried to tame her hair if she knew her father’s parents were coming. Her father’s mother was quick to point out if things weren’t in order. She was a traditional woman with a loud mouth.

“Why didn’t you tell me Nanny and Gramps were coming? I would have worn that ugly green velvet dress she got me. Now she’s going to passive aggressively talk about how I’m not a proper lady. I really don’t want to hear Nanny call me unladylike the whole night.” Pidge rambled to her mother.

“Well, you still have time to iron your dress.” Shiro suggested. Sometimes Shiro had the best ideas.

“You’re right,” Pidge said as she stood up and bounded to the laundry room. She pulled her dress over head and hastily ironed the wrinkles out while making sure she didn’t crease the dress. The moment she finished, she heard the front door open. “Dear Lord help me.” Pidge said quietly as she put her dress back on and walked back into the dining room.

Matt had finally made his presence known. He was sitting across from Shiro in a perfectly ironed shirt and pants. He'd parted his hair to one side and it looked decent, unlike Pidge’s barely restrained mess.

The moment Pidge sat in her seat, her father walked in with her grandparents.

In her gut, Pidge could tell that this was going to be a long and interesting night.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the 3rd chapter of Instructions Not Included. Please show your love for this fic. 
> 
> Next chapter dinner with the Holt family...and Shiro. What could possibly go wrong?


	4. Family Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fun times with the Holt Family. That's a lie it's not all fun times at Matt's birthday dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to give a big thank you to everyone that has read the story, left a comment, bookmarked it, or gave it a kudos!!! You guys are what keeps me going. I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story.

Once everyone sat down at the table, Mrs. Holt went into the kitchen and brought out the food she’d picked up from Matt’s favorite restaurants. She’d learned long ago that she was not cut to be in the kitchen, so she left all the food preparations to her husband or to restaurants.

“I got all your favorites.” She said as she placed the food on the dining room table. Pidge’s stomach growled softly at the sight of the food.

“I see you still don’t cook, Anne-Marie.” commented Nanny. Mrs. Holt forced a smile as she took her seat next to her husband.

“Well, it’s just something I never felt the need to learn. I mean you taught Sam so well, Gale.” She said as she squeezed her husband’s hand. Gale Holt just huffed at her daughter-in-law’s inadequacies in the kitchen.

“I hope you taught Katie how to cook,” she remarked as she looked at her granddaughter, who was shoveling shrimp fettuccine into her mouth. Gale tsked at the unladylike behavior her granddaughter exhibited. “Were you raised in a barn?” Gale asked Pidge. Pidge looked up at her grandmother with a mouth full of pasta and shook her head.

“Mother could you please just enjoy tonight. We’re here for Matt’s 24th birthday.” Sam Holt said to his mother. Visits from his parents always made him a bit uneasy.

“Matt will a special someone be joining us tonight.” Gramps asked as he nudged Matt with his elbow. Matt laughed nervously and took a sip of his water.

“Uh...I’m not seeing anyone, so a special someone won’t be showing up.” Matt answered as he shoved a piece of steak into his mouth. Gramps just shrugged his shoulders and turned to Shiro.

“Are you seeing anyone, lad?” he asked Shiro. Shiro smiled politely before answering.

“I was seeing someone, but we broke up. I’m focusing on law school at the moment.” Gramps nodded his head.

“I bet the women are after you all the time. Shiro, you are a handsome man and I’m sure women are willing to overlook your prosthetic arm.” Nanny said while she raised her glass of wine to her mouth. Shiro just gaped at her in disbelief. Matt’s fork hit the ground with a clatter, while Mrs. Holt almost spits out her drink.

“That is not appropriate. How could you say such a thing?” Sam said from his spot at the head of the table. “Mother that was highly uncalled for. Could you please refrain from speaking to Shiro like that?” He snapped at his mother.

“It’s okay Mr. Holt. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with comments like that before.” Shiro said as he looked down at his metal arm.

“I think things would be better if Nanny just hadn’t come. She always ruins family dinners. Do y’all remember the debacle that was Christmas 2010?” Pidge asked. She heard her Nanny gasp at her blunt statement.

 

****

 

The Christmas of 2010 was a day that went down in the Holt history books. On Christmas morning, Nanny was in the kitchen singing to Christmas carols, while cooking breakfast for the rest of the house. When she finished cooking breakfast, she called everyone down to eat. Everything was going great while the Holt’s ate breakfast together. No one was bickering unless you count Pidge and Matt pestering each other. It was all too perfect.

It all went downhill when they started to open presents. Nanny started to make passive aggressive comments about what Anne-Marie got her for Christmas and then she commented on how Pidge should have gotten more feminine things for Christmas. And next thing you know the Christmas tree is in flames.

No one knows what went wrong, but there’s still a burn mark on the Holt’s floor, that is a constant reminder of that debacle.

****

“Katie how dare you use that tone of voice with me?” Her Nanny asked in outrage.

“That is enough!” Everyone quieted down at the shout that came from Matt. “This is supposed to be a day that celebrates me, but all y’all have done is make this about yourselves. I’ll be eating the rest of my dinner in my bedroom, while you guys fight to the death.” Matt piled food onto his plate before walking out of the dining room.

“I knew nothing good would come out of having Nanny here. I could really use a drink,” She said with a sardonic laugh. She could feel Shiro glaring at her. “Calm down. I was joking.”

“Well in your condition you shouldn’t be joking about that sort of thing and you need to eat more vegetables.” Shiro whispered to her.

“What condition is Katie in?” Nanny asked. Shit the woman had ears like a bat. Pidge looked frantically at Shiro, who was also floundering around trying to figure out what to say. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing I’m fine. Shiro’s just a worrywart. He doesn’t think I eat healthily enough,” Pidge said as she pushed her chair away from the table. “I’m going to go check on Matt.” Pidge walked out of the dining room and quickly walked up the stairs to her brother’s room.

She knocked on the door before throwing it open. Matt jumped in surprise.

“Sorry for ruining your birthday dinner. If it makes you feel better I could get the gang together and we could have Hunk make some food, while we watch your favorite movies. We could also ask Lance’s mom to make her famous strawberry shortcake, with extra whipped cream and strawberries.” Pidge offered in an attempt to cheer her brother up.

Matt huffed out a laugh at his younger sister. 

“That sounds good to me. Could you ask Keith to make his chocolate truffles?” Matt said. Pidge knew he was going to milk her offer. “Also could buy me those candies that I like?” Yep, he was going to milk this.

“Sure I’ll see what I can do.” Pidge answered as the door to Matt’s room opened. Shiro walked in followed by Mr. and Mrs. Holt and Nanny and Gramps. Gramps was holding a plate of steak and still eating, while Nanny nudged him multiple times to get him to stop.

“Matt we are sorry that we messed up your birthday dinner. It was selfish of us to make this dinner about anything but you,” Mrs. Holt said to her son as his grandmother rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. “So would you please come back downstairs so we can finish the dinner as a family?”

“I guess.” Matt sighed as he stood up from his bed. The rest of Matt’s birthday dinner was spent making polite conversation about mundane things. At the end of the night, everyone gave Matt his presents, while Pidge sat off in the corner because she forgot her present for him at her apartment.

“I’ll give you my present later. Someone was rushing me out of the house.” Pidge said as she side-eyed Shiro. He was standing at the door waiting for Pidge to say her goodbyes.

“I wouldn’t have rushed you if you had been ready on time.” Shiro grumbled. Pidge just rolled her eyes and continued speaking with her family.

“I will talk to you once I have the plans finalized for your birthday redo. All you’ll have to do is show up.” Pidge said to Matt and she started to make her way towards the door. “I love you, mom and dad. Talk you guys later.” she said as she and Shiro walked out of the door.

Pidge closed the front door behind her and heaved a loud sigh. Shiro just shook his head at how dramatic she was being.

“So that didn’t go as I expected it to,” Shiro said as they got into his car. Pidge mumbled her reply while yawning. “Someone needs to get to bed.”

“School has been taking all of my energy. The work they pile on us never ends.” Pidge complained.

“Or maybe it’s the fact that you’re pregnant. I mean that could also be what’s making you tired,” Shiro said as he side-eyed Pidge. Pidge sighed loudly at Shiro’s nagging. “Also have you scheduled a doctor’s appointment yet?” he asked Pidge as they drove back to her apartment.

“No, I haven’t made an appointment. I’ll make one on Monday, so you can get off my back,” Pidge said in order to placate Shiro. “And it’ll make you happier, I’ll make the call while we’re at lunch on Monday.”

“I just don’t want anything bad to happen.”

“You’ll go gray worrying so much,” Pidge joked as Shiro finally pulled into the parking lot of her apartment. “I’ll see you Monday.” she said before getting out of the car. Pidge walked up the stairs to her apartment and looked down to see Shiro’s car still sitting in the parking lot. She gave an exaggerated wave as she opened the door.

Once inside, Pidge exhaled loudly and trudged to her bedroom. She stripped off her dress and threw it on the ground, while she kicked off her shoes and pushed them to the side. Pidge grabbed the large t-shirt she slept in and threw it over her head. She’d done all of this in the dark, not having the energy to turn the light on.

When she finally crawled under her covers, Pidge let out a sigh of relief. She could finally turn her brain off for a few hours. And Pidge would need all the rest she could get. She’d signed herself up for planning Matt’s redo party. She was not looking forward to having to convince Hunk to cook or Keith to make his chocolate truffles. She knew asking Lance’s mom to make Matt a cake wouldn’t be a problem since the woman owned a bakery and she loved Pidge.

She would also have to directly confront the fact that she was pregnant. Pidge was not looking forward to meeting with the doctor. She still needed to make a decision about what she wanted to do with the baby. At that point, she hadn’t even decided if she was going to keep it, have an abortion, or give it up for adoption.

Pidge really had a knack for getting herself into tricky situations.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the latest installment of Why am I Making Pidge suffer? Please leave your kind words, suggestions, or your constructive criticism in the comments down below. Or hit that kudos or bookmark button. 
> 
> Next chapter Pidge will finally listen to what her friends are trying to tell her....maybe.


	5. 1st Appointment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge has her first doctor's appointment after finding out she's pregnant.

At lunchtime on Monday, Pidge was surrounded by her friends. They were all staring at her as she held her cell phone in her hand. 

 

“Why are guys making such a big deal out of this?” she asked them. 

 

“Because this is an important phone call you’re about to make.” Allura said while the others nodded in agreement. 

 

“I’m just making an appointment with an obstetrician. It’s not that big of a deal.” Pidge said as she dialed the number. 

 

Pidge sat back in her seat and tapped her fingers against the table as the phone rang. When the line picked up an automated voice listed off options and the corresponding numbers. Pidge clicked the number she needed and waited for someone to pick up. At this point, Pidge could feel her nerves starting to kick in. 

 

“Dr. Barrett’s office. How may I help you?” a woman on the other end of the line asked. Pidge sat up in her chair and stopped tapping the table.

 

“I would like to make an appointment with Dr. Barrett. Please.” Pidge answered nervously. Pidge could hear the tapping of computer keys from the other side of the phone. 

 

“Could I please have your name?” the woman asked.

 

“Uh...Katie Holt.” 

 

“And how do you spell your first name?” 

 

“Um...K-A-T-I-E H-O-L-T.” Pidge spelled out.

 

“Thank you,” There was more typing. “There is an opening for an appointment on Wednesday at 11 a.m. and there’s an opening on Thursday at noon. Which time would work better for you?” Pidge thought about it for a moment. She had a class at 11 on Wednesdays, but she also had a class at noon on Thursday. She knew she couldn’t afford to miss her Coding class on Thursday, so she would have to skip History on Wednesday.

 

“Wednesday is fine.” Pidge said. 

 

“Okay Ms. Holt I have you done for an appointment with Dr. Barrett at 11 on Wednesday. We will see you then. Have a nice day.” the woman said before hanging up. 

 

Pidge dropped her phone and sighed. 

 

“That is out of the way. Now I just have to worry about the appointment itself.” Pidge said as she started to pick at her lunch.

 

“Do you want one of us to go with you?” Keith asked. 

 

“Is anybody free on Wednesday at 11?” Pidge asked her friends. She saw Allura, Hunk, and Keith shake their heads “no”. Shiro pulled out his planner and checked before sighing.

 

“I have work,” Shiro said. So that left only one person. Everyone turned to him and stared. “You’re the only person who hasn’t given an answer.”

 

And that was how Lance ended up taking Pidge to her first obstetrician appointment.

 

The two were sitting in the waiting room with other pregnant women. One woman looked like she was going to pop her child out in the waiting room, while a couple sat together holding hands and smiling giddily. The woman caught Pidge staring at her and took that as a sign to engage in conversation. 

 

“Are you guys here for your first check-up too?” the woman asked with a smile. Pidge looked at Lance awkwardly. 

 

“Uh...I’m not together with her,” Lance told the woman while pointing at Pidge. “I’m just her friend. I have a boyfriend....okay he’s not really my boyfriend, but we’re pretty much dating. I just have to ask him out.” Lance rambled. 

 

“He’s with me for moral support.” Pidge said to the woman, who looked more than a little confused. 

 

“Well that’s nice.” The woman said before she turned back to her husband. Pidge sighed and picked up one of the old magazine’s that was sitting on the table next to her. Lance leaned over her shoulder and silently read the article she was reading. 

 

“Wow I really applaud women that have natural births,” Lance said once he finished reading the article. “I don’t think I could handle pushing something the size of a small watermelon out of my body.” 

 

Some of the women in the waiting room turned and glared at Lance. 

 

“If anyone in this room is having a natural birth, you are a hero.” Lance said as he made eye contact with a few of the women. Pidge groaned at his antics and covered her eyes with her arm. 

 

“Katie Holt.” A nurse called as she walked from the back of the office. Pidge stood up quickly and grabbed Lance. The nurse looked at them with a smile and proceeded to the back. The nurse had Pidge stand on a scale, before she measured her.

 

“Have I grown?” Pidge asked jokingly. The nurse chuckled and looked over Pidge’s chart. 

 

“You grew an inch.” she said as she started to take Pidge’s blood pressure. “So when was your last period?” The woman said finally getting down to business. 

 

“Um...a little bit over a month ago.” Pidge said. 

 

“So you scheduled an appointment with Dr. Barrett because you are pregnant. Is that correct?” the nurse asked. Pidge nodded her head. “Okay. Follow me.” Lance and Pidge followed the nurse to a room and the doctor instructed Pidge to sit on the cushioned seat in the middle of the room.

 

“So what’s going to happen in this checkup?” Pidge asked nervously. 

 

“You will need to give a urine sample, so we can make sure you don’t have any STI’s or a UTI. Then we’ll need to take some blood. After that Dr. Barrett will do your ultrasound. And by the end you may have a tentative due date.” The nurse listed off. Pidge just nodded her head. The nurse handed Pidge a cup and instructed her go to the bathroom. 

 

When she came back, Pidge handed the nurse the full cup with an awkward smile. This was going to be a long appointment. After peeing in a cup, another nurse came in holding a container filled with needles. 

 

Lance turned away at the sight of the needles and waited for it to be over. 

 

“Okay now that all of that is taken care of, Dr. Barrett should be with you two shortly.” The nurse said before walking out of the room and closing the door. Once Pidge knew the woman was out of earshot, she let out a loud sigh and laid back on the examination table.

 

“I want this to be over.” She whined as Lance took a seat in the spinning stool that was reserved for the doctor. 

 

“Both my sister and my sister-in-law said this is the longest prenatal appointment.” Lance said as he spun himself around in the chair. Lance placed his foot on the ground and stopped the stool from spinning. “So have you decided what you’re going to do about the baby?” He asked Pidge. Pidge just shrugged her shoulders because she still hadn’t decided what she was going to do. She was hoping the appointment would help her decide. 

 

A woman with her dark brown hair pulled back into a bun walked into the room holding a clipboard.   
“Good afternoon, Katie. I am Dr. Barrett. So this is your first prenatal appointment.” Dr. Barrett greeted.

 

“Yes.” Pidge answered nervously.

 

“Alright we’ll start with an ultrasound to make sure that everything is going okay.” Dr. Barrett said before walking out the room. She came back with a cart that had a screen and some other pieces on it. “I’m going to need you to lay back and relax.” Pidge laid back on the examination table and jerked at the feeling of cold gel on her stomach. The doctor turned the machine on and turned the lights off. 

 

Dr. Barrett moved the wand around on Pidge’s stomach and looked at the screen. 

 

“You are about eight weeks along, which means the baby is almost two centimeters. Your baby is going to be in early June,” Dr. Barrett said before turning the monitor towards Pidge and Lance. Dr. Barrett pointed at the little dark spot on the screen. Pidge stared at the spot. Was that dark spot really going to grow into a baby? “Would you like a picture?” Dr. Barrett asked them. 

 

“Yes!” Lance shouted enthusiastically. Pidge turned and stared at her friend. He was acting like it was his baby. Dr. Barrett printed two copies and handed one to Lance and the other to Pidge. 

 

“Everything looks good. Here’s a pamphlet that has foods you should avoid and what you should eat in moderation. Also, Janice at the front desk will help you set up your next appointment.” Dr. Barrett said with a smile as she stood up and got ready to the wheel the ultrasound machine out of the room.

 

“What if I want to get an abortion?” Pidge blurted out before the doctor could get out of the room.


End file.
